Green Pricing

July 1999 - The Modesto Bee reported that the Turlock Irrigation District (TID) will offer a small-hydro-based electricity product to its customers beginning in August. Billing itself as "the first municipal utility in the United States to offer a 100 percent small hydro green product," the utility will offer "TID Green Valley Energy" for an additional monthly fee of $3.50 to $8.50 depending on the type of customer subscribing. The power will come from small hydro plants that Turlock already owns and operates on its irrigation canal system. Turlock also owns a 68% share of the 203-MW Don Pedro hydro facility and part of a geothermal power plant in Lake County.

TID was the first irrigation district formed in California and supplies electricity to nearly 64,000 electric customers. As a publicly owned utility, TID is exempted from California's electricity restructuring law unless the utility decides to "opt in" to the competitive market. As of now, the utility has no plans to open its system to competition.